Russia is gearing up to test its nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile on the eve of Vladimir Putin's summit with Donald Trump and after the US president warned him of 'severe consequences' if the war continues.
Experts say recent satellite images show intense preparations at the Pankovo test site on Novaya Zemlya, a remote archipelago in the Barents Sea.
The pictures, taken in recent weeks by commercial satellite firm Planet Labs, reveal a surge in personnel, equipment, ships and aircraft linked to earlier tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik, known to NATO as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall.
A Western security source has also verified that Russia is preparing a Burevestnik launch, supporting the findings by Jeffrey Lewis from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and Decker Eveleth, of the CNA research and analysis organisation.
Lewis told Reuters that it could happen this week, which could potentially overshadow the planned Putin-Trump summit in Alaska.
